Winning blow: knight to a5 (b3·6)
c9-23500naming tag (square·N)Opens in the app if installed, otherwise downloads the APK.
The tactical motive
Chess960 twist: use the unusual starting setup of the pieces.
Winning tactic: there is a move that gains a decisive advantage — find it.
Difficulty 1620 ShuffleRating — for advanced tacticians.
White to move — find the best continuation
How to recognize this tactic
In Chess960 the pieces start on unfamiliar squares, so tactics appear earlier and from unusual angles. Do not trust classical patterns — read the actual lines of the bishops, the rooks and the queen from where they really stand in this position.
This position hides a concrete tactic that wins material or mates. Start with the most forcing candidate moves — checks, captures and threats — and calculate each to a clear end before choosing; the winning line is usually the one the opponent cannot meet.
General method: before you move, list the forcing candidates — every check, every capture, every direct threat — and calculate those first. The solution to a tactic is almost always among them.
Position on the board
White: king c2, queen b8, rook d3, knight b3, pawn a2 b2 d2 e2 h2.
Black: king b6, queen f1, rook c7, knight e7, pawn c5 e5 a7 b7.
9 white and 8 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 23.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 1 points of material (22 against 21; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on c2, the black king on b6.
It is White to move on move 23, with 32 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 5 pawns, Black 4. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): f, g — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: c.
The White king has 1 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
23. Na5 c4 24. Rd6+ Rc6 25. Qxb7+ Kxa5 26. Qxe7
Why it works
- Great move! knight to a5 keeps the pressure (+5.2).
- Well found: rook to d6 (+5.1).
- Precise: queen to b7 is the top choice (+5.2).
- Best move. queen to e7 is exactly what the engine plays (+5.5).
- You win decisive material (+5.5).
- If instead c4, then Rd6+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 23. Na5 — knight to a5
- c4 — pawn to c4
- 24. Rd6+ — rook to d6 with check
- Rc6 — rook to c6
- 25. Qxb7+ — queen to b7 (capture) with check
- Kxa5 — king to a5 (capture)
- 26. Qxe7 — queen to e7 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Royal fork
A fork with check: the king must move, and the second piece is lost.
A royal fork is a fork with check — one of the two targets is the king itself. The check must be answered first, so nobody is left to rescue the second piece. Look for squares where your piece gives check and simultaneously attacks an undefended queen or rook. It is the most reliable fork of all, because your opponent literally has no choice.
Win the pinned piece
The pinned piece cannot run — attack it again and win it.
A pinned piece cannot flee, which means you can win it outright by attacking it one more time. Count attackers against defenders: if you outnumber them, the piece is yours. The best extra attacker is a pawn, since it costs less than anything it might capture. Do not rush the capture — build up the pressure first, then harvest.
Quiet move
No check, no capture — yet this modest move decides the game.
A quiet move gives no check and takes nothing — yet it decides the game by creating an unstoppable threat or stealing the king's last square. This is the hardest class of moves: the eye hunts for loud blows while a modest shift does the winning. The clue: every forcing try runs into a defense, so seek the move that strengthens the threat or takes squares away. Train yourself to ask: what if I neither capture nor check, but quietly improve?
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #344.
SP-344 · ThroneScout — The king starts on d or e while at least one knight begins in a corner.
The king starts on d1, the rooks on c1 and g1, the queen on f1.
Castling long simply swaps the two pieces: the king on d1 and the rook on c1 trade places.
The bishops stand on b1 and e1; their long diagonals reach h7 and a5 once the c- and d-pawns step aside.
The second rank carries 2 pawns with no defender at all: b2, h2.
The setup belongs to the ThroneScout family; read right to left it becomes position 333.
The engine's main line opens with c4.
Morozov Balance Index: 37 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +30 centipawns for White (depth 45, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #344Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 012 · SP-344
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